LOS ANGELES—If Ben Affleck was snubbed by the Oscars, everyone should be so lucky. His Iran rescue thriller "Argo" has won best picture from the Academy Awards.

It's the first best picture winner not to be nominated for best director since 1989's "Driving Miss Daisy." But despite the omission of Affleck—or perhaps buoyed by it—"Argo" emerged as the Oscar favorite, winning top honors from the directors, producers, screen actors and writers guilds.

Among the other eight nominees, Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" was perceived as the biggest competition to "Argo." The other nominees were "Life of Pi," "Silver Linings Playbook," "Zero Dark Thirty," "Les Miserables," "Amour," "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "Django Unchained."